Monday, 28 November 2011

Well this week BeliEVErs and Glamafreaks eagerly awaited a rematch from the two divas' show-stopping encounter at Vengeance, not to mention new direction in dissention amongst everyone's favourite tag team. Then on the other end we also had a controversial match on Impact that had the internet almost in an outrage. Let's get going:

Survivor Series - Beth Phoenix* vs Eve Torres (Lumberjill Match; Divas' Championship):I'm still pissed we didn't get a traditional SS match again this year but lord knows they sure didn't have time for one, not when they had The Rock talk for a solid ten minutes. This match did suffer from being short but the Divas prove what good workers they actually are by using the four minutes allotted and giving a good match anyway. It wasn't as spectacular as Vengeance but they showed off their chemistry and delivered something watchable. The Lumberjill stipulation added nothing really since it was only Kelly and Natalya getting involved which would have happened anyway. At least the other Divas looked good and got to collect their extra PPV pay-check. The opening moments of the match were a bit stiff and a little bland but things tightened up as they went on. Beth didn't get that much offence in which prevented it from being too hard-hitting but Eve was very impressive with how she played off Natalya at ringside. They did well to give a memorable ending since they wouldn't have been able to make a full blown wowing match with so little time but the ending helped make the match memorable. I'm happy that Beth gets another clean win, not to mention something devastating and unique like how she won the I Quit match. 6.5/10
Raw - Kelly, Alicia, DoD backstage:Given that WWE normally loves to throw the girls out there in a big multi-tag match with five moves of doom and a rush before it's over this was probably for the best. It got the DoD on TV to follow up their big win and it was wise to keep Eve off TV to sell how devastating Beth's Glam Slam was. Hopefully we can get some proper direction this week. N/A
NXT Watch:No match again this week but plenty of segments. Maxine, Derrick Bateman and Johnny Curtis are pure gold and I'd love for them to become a proper three-person stable. Johnny does still technically have a Tag Team title match in his contract so who better to pick for a partner. I'm looking forward to the eventual wedding which will most likely have Maxine turn on Derrick in favour of Johnny. WWE weddings are never normal of course. As for JTG/Tamina, I was impressed with Tamina on the mic as she seemed much more natural and spoke so easily. But seriously not another romance-inspired face turn for her please. Just keep her as a heel on Smackdown and Superstars while you have this story on NXT. We really don't need to throw the division out of whack even more.
Impact - Tara, Brooke Tessmacher & Velvet Sky vs Winter, Angelina Love & Madison Rayne (Thanksgiving Thong Thunder Match):Ye gods this was an absolute trainwreck. They went about it in the best way that they could, with Karen enforcing this to degrade the girls and them not being happy about it but then again it still doesn't make sense. Brooke strips off during her entrance, Velvet's gimmick is shaking her ass in the camera as was Angelina's and hell Madison was more covered up in her lingerie than she would be in her normal ring gear. The match itself was alright in terms of action but it went on for far too long since it was pretty much a cheap ratings grab for T&A. Three minutes is all that's needed for that as the girls just looked stupid out there in lingerie. I'm not saying WWE was better at doing this either but at least they never had these things run on for too long. The fact that the girls were wearing lingerie just took away from the action in the ring and I couldn't take it seriously. Also the way Velvet took Madison's finisher was really off. 3/10
Gail Kim brawls with Mickie James:This on the other hand was brilliant. Gail really is a good heel and showed a ton of charisma here with all her lines. Mickie was the same as she always has been, sometimes over-emphasizing things and not getting her delivery fluid but she did alright. The brawl was cool to watch and it was definitely more exciting than anything we saw from Mickie and Tara or Mickie and Madison. Hopefully Gail and Mickie can be TNA's first truly stellar women's match since Kong/Hamada vs Taylor/Sarita. Segment rating: 8/10
Smackdown - Divas of Doom vs Chick Busters:I wonder how many times we've seen this match this year. Anyway it was fine for what it was and Kaitlyn handled herself fine out there, showing she's now comfortable working with the likes of Beth and Natalya. AJ's part in the ring was good as well though the ending was a bit lame. Usually if you're going to have a short match you should make the ending much more impactful and give it some oomph, as Beth and Eve demonstrated at Survivor Series. Instead Natalya just locks in the Sharpshooter and that's it. As for them appearing to go ahead with splitting AJ and Kaitlyn up, it's not needed and if they should split someone it should be the Bellas who have been together for too long. Although I'm actually wondering if they've been building to this for a while since I've noticed specifically that it's always AJ who is in the decision of these matches which is likely what Kaitlyn is getting fed up with. I hope they don't split them up and they end up overcoming their differences as Alicia convinces them to unite against the DoD. Match rating: 4/10
The after match segment was much better. I guess AJ is the new Kelly who gets beaten up like a rag doll. This was probably the most intense DoD submission segment so far because AJ sold it so well. She sounded like she was genuinely in pain and I nearly did mark out a little. It shows how convincing Natalya is at what she does because in that moment I hated her guts and wanted to see her get her comeuppance. I would actually love to eventually get a segment where all the other Divas surround Natalya and beat her up only for one of them to lock her in the Sharpshooter or the Pin-Up Strong hold while Beth abandons her. Make it happen WWE. I suppose this means it'll be Alicia vs Beth now which is very exciting for me since they've never feuded and never actually faced each other properly. Segment rating: 6/10

Monday, 21 November 2011

And we've come to the final Big 4 PPV of the year and one that originally started as a show dedicated to tag team wrestling. Well this year we do indeed have a tag team match as our main event but the rest of the card is notably low on traditional Survivor Series matches which is a shame because I do love them and they're not that hard to build towards. Survivor Series was always my favourite PPV for those matches so it's always a disappointment when the creative team don't book enough of them. As an aside, thankfully we got a new set this year and I especially liked the touch of graphics showing who was competing in the match on either side of the stage. Shall we begin?

1) Dolph Ziggler* vs John Morrison (United States Championship):
Gee, I wonder how this would end. The crowd could care less about the match itself though I do find the "we want Ryder" chants a tad disrespectful. If it was anyone other than Morrison I'd be annoyed. Dolph played off it really well and got great heat from it. He was able to make this match exciting and a bit more interesting because he and Morrison don't really mesh. All I really saw was Morrison phoning it in and hitting his usual flashy moves. They were done well but there was no real variety to them. Dolph and Vickie were able to add some colour to the match and make it somewhat watchable. The closing moments were a lot better with the back and forth moves and the near falls. Dolph retains as expected. I was against him being placed in the US title picture back in May but I'll give him credit, he's been a good champion and had a good run with the belt just like back when he was IC Champion last year. I'm excited to see where this feud with Zack Ryder is going and hopefully Ryder will eventually end up with that belt and Dolph can hop right into the main event. 6/10

2) Beth Phoenix* vs Eve Torres (Lumberjill Match; Divas' Championship):
Comparing it to their match at Vengeance, they fell short. Maybe because it wasn't as long or because it had little to no build up, it just wasn't as intense. They did put on a good show but it lacked a certain fire that Beth's matches with Kelly had because there was a proper storyline behind it. The early parts were just bland but things were much better for the last 2/3. Beth didn't get in as much offence as I would have liked and the Lumberjills really did nothing at all which is either good or bad depending on how you prefer these types of matches. Eve was very impressive with her new triangle choke and her personality, playing off Natalya at ringside pretty well. The end spot was amazing though, I didn't expect the Divas to pull off something like that. Beth gets another strong win. Good match but not great. 6.5/10

Did WWE not learn from their mistakes at WrestleMania this year? Less is more and people are going to watch The Rock anyway so there's no need for him to yap yap yap for a solid 10 minutes. There are matches that could have used that extra time while they're over exposing The Rock. Need I say anything else except: shut up and wrestle!

3) Team Barrett (Wade Barrett, Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler, Hunico & Cody Rhodes) vs Team Orton (Randy Orton, Sheamus, Sin Cara, Kofi Kingston & Mason Ryan) (Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match):
I'm relieved a SS match actually made it to the card and they did a good job of building it up at the very least though I will say that Mason Ryan is absolutely no substitute for Evan Bourne who was definitely missed in this match. The opening interaction between Kofi and Dolph harkens back to their good work back in the Summer though I wasn't expecting him to get eliminated so soon. The elimination itself was a bit lame and too abrupt if you ask me. Watching the slow motion replay of Sin Cara's "injury" it looked like a work from the way he landed but then I found out it was legit so I don't know how the match would have turned out if he had gotten to do his stuff during it. He most likely wasn't going to be the next one eliminated anyway. Mason Ryan's elimination was done really well and gives Cody a good rub to take out someone his size. As an aside note what on earth was Michael Cole saying about Sheamus being bullied? Who the hell in Ireland would get bullied for having pale skin? The part with Sheamus in the ring plodded along at first but got more exciting with the spots on the outside and Kofi's hot tag was really good as was the elimination. I was expecting the faces to get one that time but I guess not. It was surprising to see Orton be the one who got isolated next (and it looked like Cody was trying to bite his head for some reason) but it gave Sheamus a good rub and he came out of the match looking more like a top face than he did going in. Him getting eliminated by DQ was just stupid though, especially with four guys left on the other team. Sheamus should have eliminated Swagger before getting eliminated himself. It's predictable but that can be good sometimes. I was surprised to see Hunico last so long but I expect if Sin Cara hadn't been injured he would have eliminated him, the mid-air RKO was great as always. I have to admit, I marked out when Wade hit the Wasteland on Orton and I was ecstatic when the ref counted to three. Wade and Cody got a great rub coming out of this match and it helped solidify them as big time heels. This has been a good PPV for heels anyway with Beth and Dolph getting great strong wins also earlier in the night. 8/10

I don't really think I like putting the Bellas with Del Rio. They should use Rosa instead since the twins can wrestle and Rosa has way more charisma (not to mention being better looking). Johnny Ace's voice is like nails on a blackboard but then again even nails can have some intensity.

4) Mark Henry* vs Big Show (World Heavyweight Championship):
These two guys managed to strike gold at Money In The Bank and Vengeance but enough is enough already. I'll admit that TNA does rush feuds without taking the time to develop them but sometimes WWE can really draw them out for way too long, this being the prime example of it. Big Show/Mark Henry is a match that should only happen once or twice and now it's likely to happen a fourth time as well. A friendly tip for WWE creative team - when the last match gets called off for having the frickin ring collapse then it's not wise to end the next match with a DQ, especially when it's something as lame as a low blow. It doesn't give Henry heat at all, it just makes people roll their eyes that this getting drawn out almost as much as Orton/Christian though at least those matches were something. The opening parts were alright and the story being told was good to see as was the one spot with the barricade. Everything else though was just nothing special. Even the crowd could care less though I would have loved the "we want Ryder" chants to start during this match. The little part that came when the match was over was much better though sadly this feud will continue. 4.5/10

Good interview with Wade Barrett, us fans in England are anxiously waiting the moment when he becomes the first World Champion, we already have a Women's Champion but this would mean so much more. Is it me or does it seem like a Barrett/Miz feud could be epic? Truth is truly one of the best and most entertaining heels in the company right now and oooh he said a bad word. Several times. The parents are going to be complaining all day most likely...

Could Justin Roberts sound more fake when introducing the army troops?

5) Alberto Del Rio* vs CM Punk (WWE Championship):
I was really excited for this match and that's something that hasn't happened since Del Rio became champion. These two are good talents in the ring and they both ooze charisma as well as being a really fresh pairing in the main event, not to mention it was awesome for CM Punk to get the chants in New York of all places. Pretty technical starting off, impressive and nicely done and I never figured Punk as one for the high spots like that but whatever works for him. About around the time Del Rio hit the first arm breaker, I knew we'd be treated to a great pure wrestling match that we haven't really seen since Cody/Ted at Night of Champions, but there was that bad looking double-axe-handle from the top rope. The exchanges were all so crisp and well executed and things really got intense after the big elbow drop. I definitely marked out a bit when Del Rio locked in the arm bar and I was praying for Punk to get to the ropes, not just because I wanted him to win but I wanted the match to go on even longer. The closing moments were just crazy (in a good way) and it was such a great way to end the match. 8/10

6) Awesome Truth vs The Rock & John Cena:
Good lord did we need more hyping for this? We got plenty of that on the show itself with The Rock's pointless ten minute promo not to mention the video package at the start of the show. Other matches could have done with the extra time, people. As the huge Miz mark that I am, it was great to hear him get so many cheers though I was honestly expecting The Rock to get some boos like when he came back in 2003. The opening interactions between him and Miz were nice to see. I daresay that's another match I wouldn't mind seeing in the near future. Pretty much the usual stuff from Cena though it was done well to be fair. Awesome Truth once again demonstrated their good tag team chemistry with all their double teams and strategic isolation. The match breakdown was pretty fun as well even if it was five moves of doom from both of the faces. I actually wasn't expecting the match to end with the People's Elbow but there you go. They went with the predictable route of trying to make Rock the heel but it just won't happen, creative. The fans really hate Cena that much. 6.5/10

Friday, 11 November 2011

So another week is upon us and yet another PPV approaches this Sunday, with gold at stake. Meanwhile in WWE we come closer to our fourth and final Big 4 PPV of the year, and of course we do have a wedding coming up on NXT. Should be a good one.

Raw - Kelly's Cover Unveiling:
Well a promo is always a welcome change from a match but there was one big problem with it - Beth and Natalya were seriously overdoing it. They were trying to be LayCool too much at the start, much like Tamina and Rosa tried over on Smackdown. It didn't seem natural and it was a little cringeworthy because Beth and Natalya don't have Michelle and Layla's flair for comedy. The other part of the promo however was much better with the DoD being intimidating and menacing. They should have actually attacked Kelly and tried to put her in the submission hold. As for the Divas' title match between Beth and Eve, I expect we'll get it on the special 3 hour Raw next week as it should get enough time and hopefully some more development towards a Survivor Series match. Segment rating: 5/10

NXT Watch:
Maxine and Derrick Bateman make a great double act and now they've thrown in Johnny Curtis as well which makes it even better. True some of the gags were a little silly but this is still PG TV and these folks aren't CM Punk or John Cena are they? Anyway WWE weddings are never normal so what tricks will we get when Batemax try to tie the knot? And the segment with Tamina, JTG and The Usos was pretty fun as well. Too bad no Chick Busters or matches this week.

Impact - Gail Kim & Madison Rayne* vs Velvet Sky & Mickie James (Knockouts Tag Team Championships):
So Madison has to come out to Gail's music now? Anyway this match was pretty fun, regardless of TNA's strange booking - shouldn't Tara and Brooke get their rematches first before any other challengers step forward? I'd say it's one of the best Knockouts tag matches TNA have put on this year. The moves were all pretty solid and I forgot how talented a heel Gail used to be. For some reason the match felt more intense than some of the other typical Ricky Morton hot tag matches earlier in the year. The Gail/Velvet interaction was a good tease for this Sunday's match and I'm sure they can pull out the stops to make it worth watching. I hope to God Gail doesn't win because both she and Velvet deserve better. I want Velvet to have a lengthy first run as Knockouts Champion and I'd love TNA to give her one like WWE did for Kelly Kelly and hers. Though with TNA's crazy troll booking Gail will win this Sunday, Velvet will win it back on Impact and then probably lose it to Karen herself in a game of pass the parcel. 8/10

Smackdown - Alicia Fox w/Aksana vs Tamina w/Rosa Mendes:
I've been hoping for Aksana to eventually become part of the women's division and I think she just has. The segments with Teddy could only go on for so long and now we have a nice transition from those into the division. I'm sensing that maybe Aksana could turn on Alicia eventually to join the Divas of Doom. She is a former fitness model and is noticeably a lot more buff than the rest of the divas, plus she has a power moveset which could fit in well with Beth and Natalya. The only worry is that Aksana is a bit of a comedy character, regardless of what she's doing in FCW right now so maybe that'll undermine what the DoD are supposed to represent. As for the match, it was good despite being so short. I think the lack of time helped Tamina in fact since she's finally improved on her timing. Alicia keeps racking up the wins now though I'd like to see the divas get at least four minutes on Smackdown from now on considering it used to be a much better show for them. 5.5/10

Sunday, 6 November 2011

Well I promised you all another video and here it is. Now unlike the divas, most of the Superstars get a variety of songs personally made for them though of course some of them do get stuck with crappy production themes. Once again I tried to get in a variety of styles though it seems rock kept popping up a lot, and as always the trusty Tekken soundtrack came into play again as did some of the classic WWF/E theme music. The video can be watched at this link below.

Alex Riley:

Now this wasn't easy to figure out since he has one of the better themes in WWE right now and I'd be messing with success but I think the one I picked is a good replacement. The song is "Underdog" by Kasabian and the lyrics do fit his face turn pretty well. When he turned face he was branching out on his own, away from The Miz and rising up through the ranks as the new underdog. It's a pretty good fit when you watch the video back.

CM Punk:

I'll hold my hands up and admit I wasn't the biggest fan of his "This Fire Burns" theme but I do like his new theme that I don't know the name of. However I knew straight away which theme I'd be giving Punk in the dub. What with him being straight edge and covered in tattoos I went towards Grunge and so "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana was the most obvious choice. Watching him come out to it in the video is definitely a perfect fit.

Cody Rhodes:

Like Punk this one came to me straight away, though people probably won't know this song as well as the last two. It's "Ugly" by The Exies and I found out a couple of days ago that it was actually the theme for the 2004 Survivor Series. Of course with lyrics like "we are dirt/we are alone" and "are you like me/are you ugly" it goes so well with Cody's new disfigured and grotesque freak gimmick. Though I suppose I could have given him The Oddities' old theme as well.

Daniel Bryan:

With this one, I considered cheating and just giving him back "The Final Countdown". For those who don't know, he used that extensively on the indie scene and it became so associated with him, people were hoping WWE would get the rights to the song and let him use it when they signed him. Anyway getting the inspiration from that song, I stayed with Europe and found another pretty cool song by them called "Rock The Night" which has a similar beat to "The Final Countdown" but which doesn't sound as outdated. In fact I'm surprised no wrestler has this theme already (unless you'd like to correct me).

Evan Bourne:

The song I gave to this guy was a bit of a no-brainer as well though I'm sure a few people wouldn't agree. It's Audioslave's "Be Yourself" which was one of the themes for WrestleMania 26 as well as Ashley Massaro's music briefly in 2005. I guess the song is pretty simple as a title like Be Yourself is self explanatory. In this case being yourself means being one of the most talented guys in the world and my favourite wrestler currently in WWE. So it's a no-brainer that my favourite wrestler gets my favourite song.

Jack Swagger:

Now the Kurt Angle comparisons have been rolling in ever since WrestleMania 26 and even more so since he adopted the Ankle Lock as a finisher, it did seem like WWE were making him into Kurt Angle V2. And thus I couldn't resist giving him this theme. The one I went with was off the Anthology album and on the Youtube video I downloaded it from said Kurt Angle never used it but my brother says he remembers him using it briefly as a way to stop the "you suck" chants. So if Swagger's Kurt Angle V2 then he gets a retooled entrance theme.

Dolph Ziggler:

I was really stumped with this guy and there was no way I was giving him Billy, Chuck & Rico's old "You Look So Good To Me" theme that got hijacked by Santina. Browsing through my iTunes library, I came across this song by The Fratellis called "Tell Me A Lie". I think the beat and rhythm are quite similar to Dolph's "I Am Perfection" theme and so it works well enough over his entrance.

John Cena:

You'll notice I used a clip from 2004 when he was almost universally loved by fans. Going in with that gimmick, I looked at Eminem songs first but couldn't really find any that worked. I ignored Vanilla Ice and Marky Mark and eventually went with this fun little remix of Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust" with rapping from Wycleaf Jean mixed in with it. And really, who else makes the other wrestlers bite the dust better than Cena?

John Morrison:

Now this was a real stumper. I eventually decided that for the flashier guys like Morrison and Kofi, I would go back to the Tekken soundtrack and pick up themes that had no lyrics. Flashy guys like them don't really need the songs, they just need something catchy and memorable. This time it's Tekken 3 and the theme belongs to the man himself Jin Kazama. I was a little unsure if it would work when he was in slow-motion but it still flows really well.

Kofi Kingston:

You'll notice I ignored that he and Evan Bourne are now both part of Air Boom (whose theme I actually like) and gave them both separate entrances. Like with Morrison I went with something without lyrics because it's really the character-driven wrestlers and the powerhouses that need songs describing themselves. The flashy guys don't need those as the lyrics can sometimes distract from all the theatrics they do in their entrances. I always found Kofi's song a little distracting and I think it's run it's course since they've dropped his Jamaican gimmick. The theme is once again from Tekken 3 and it's the arcade version of Eddy Gordo's theme.

R-Truth:

Ignoring his heel turn, mostly because I would feel really weird trying to dub over that strange period where he didn't come out to any music at all. This is the theme he used when he was first in WWF as K-Kwik (don't worry if you don't remember it as WWE seem to have forgotten it as well) firstly when he was with Road Dogg and then on his own. It's called "Gettin Rowdy" and of course it doesn't match up with the sound that well but I prefer it to his old "What's Up" song.

Randy Orton:

This was another hard one to pick considering how iconic his "Voices" theme song is now. I scrolled through my iTunes library looking for various songs to use before I remembered "Living In A Dream" by Finger Eleven. It was the theme to this year's Royal Rumble and I actually remember watching the PPV and hearing the theme and thinking it would make a good entrance theme. Playing it over Orton's incredibly slow entrance it actually fits and it's a pretty badass theme to come out to.

Rey Mysterio:

I decided to ignore the obvious Latin-inspired songs and peppy super hero stuff as well as the Tekken soundtrack because Rey isn't as flashy as Kofi or Morrison. The song I went with is "Touch the Sky" by Kanye West and it has lyrics that fit a high flyer with substance well enough such as "the day I die/I'm gonna touch the sky" and it's a nice feel good tune (regardless of the big headed guy singing it) which is perfect for the ultimate underdog in WWE right now.

Sheamus:

I'm ignoring a lot of recent heel and face turns it seems but mostly I had this video clip on my hard drive already and I didn't want to download another one just to incorporate his face run. Anyway I think the theme I picked for him could work as a face or heel theme either way. I actually considered giving him Triple H's old "My Time" or "Higher Brain Pattern" themes but then I thought that was a little too obvious and easy. I went even further than the Tekken soundtrack and went straight to the crossover with Street Fighter. This is Hwoarang's theme and I think the hard beat really fits Sheamus. I also made a point to ignore any ceili music for obvious reasons.

Sin Cara:

Once again this was a tricky one. While he is a luchador, he's not as personable or knowable as Rey Mysterio since he has that mysterious edge to him. So I went with the rationale that I had for Kofi and Morrison and went to the Tekken soundtrack. The track I picked is from Tekken Tag Tournament and is actually the only theme on that game I like, belonging to Yoshimitsu. It has a nice flow to it and goes pretty well over Sin Cara's entrance. And no there was no way I was going to make a separate one for Hunico as well.

Ted DiBiase:

This was officially the hardest one to pick a theme for. That isn't me saying I like his "I Come From Money" theme song but what song exactly do you give to this guy. I did acknowledge his recent face turn so I went through a whole list of songs about redemption etc since that's really what all new faces have to do. The one I ended up choosing is Linkin Park's "Breaking The Habit". First of all I tried a sped up version of the song to go with his entrance but it was all wrong and didn't sound good at all. The normal slower version of the song worked much better as you can see in the video.

The Miz:

Aha so someone did end up getting Billy Gunn's old theme music after all. Now this one probably isn't as well known as his "Ass Man" theme but it does come from the cool period when he got a bit of a singles push as "The One" (but as always WWF dropped the ball with him). The lyrics to the song don't really fit a face that well do they since it's titled "I've Got It All" and has lyrics like "everything you wish you had/God gave it all to me" which means it's practically an anthem for The Miz. I know I'm reaching here but watching the video it almost seems like he's moving in time to the music.

Tyson Kidd:

You're probably wondering what this guy is doing on the list considering the other people who got left out but Tyson Kidd has always been underrated to me in WWE ever since the Hart Dynasty split up. I was considering giving him a Tekken theme but I had kind of run out of ones that I thought were usable and so I went back through my iTunes library and found Thin Lizzy's classic "Boys Are Back in Town". I did consider using Funeral For A Friend's cover of the song but the original worked a lot better and it helps me keep my hopes up that DH Smith will get rehired and we'll have that Hart Dynasty reunion.

Wade Barrett:

Now in contrast to the tricky ones that came before him, I knew straight away which theme I was going to give to Wade. Zipping through the collection of Brit Punk the obvious choice was "God Save The Queen" by the Sex Pistols. I thought about using "Anarchy In The UK" as well but this one went over better in the video and I suppose I can always save the latter for William Regal when I do my classic WWF/E dubbing.

Zack Ryder:

Now this guy falls into the category of wrestlers I became a fan of purely because I liked their entrance music (*cough* Victoria) so replacing the iconic "Oh Radio" tune was going to be hard. I considered just throwing the Jersey Shore theme song out there but then I remembered Ryder didn't want to get nuclear levels of X-Pac Heat whenever he came out. The song I went with does come from Jersey Shore though I don't actually know the name of it. It's a fun party song and I think it's a fitting replacement.

So there you have it. The current Superstars and Divas have gotten some brand new entrance themes in a variety of styles and in a hypothetical agreement with Namco as well. Who knows which video I'll do next though I am strongly thinking of going back to the good old days and messing around with some of the classic WWF and E tunes. Until then.

Friday, 4 November 2011

Raw - Halloween #1 Contender's Battle Royal:
Well of course since it was Halloween there was obviously going to be some silliness going down so I suppose it's just as well we got some story continuation mixed in with it. I guess Aksana is part of the women's division now since Maryse is gone. Hopefully the rumours about Naomi finally getting called up are true. The costumes were fun as always though Beth's had me laughing. As a battle royal it wasn't too imaginative but still fairly decent. The Eve/Kelly double team was fun and Beth was funny on commentary but not much else to talk about other than that. I will say that Natalya had been looking weak for a while now after all her losses but this helped build her back up a bit since she eliminated 3 divas and managed to fight off the final 3. It was surprising to see Eve win when Alicia beat Natalya last week but she does seem to have a habit of winning these costume battle royals doesn't she? I'm all for this next title match since they gave us gold at Vengeance. However I'd rather have the match on Raw or Smackdown and get a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match. I mean we've had singles title matches at every PPV since Over The Limit. I think they are going in the 5 on 5 direction since they had Alicia stand with Kelly and Eve at the end. 3/10

NXT - Kaitlyn vs Tamina:
I'd say about on par with last week's match even though it got a bit more time. I preferred the interactions in last week because it was more traditional but this time we saw Kaitlyn try to use submissions to wear Tamina down. It was a little weird and almost made me feel like we were watching a heel vs heel match even though the action was good. I enjoyed the match anyway and I'm happy both divas are getting chances to wrestle and speak with proper time. I mean neither of them were going to grow much as wrestlers if they were getting squashed by Beth and Natalya in two minutes. Kaitlyn using the Side Effect looked much nicer than the move she used to pin Maxine a couple of weeks ago though there is a guy I wrestle with who uses that as his finisher and I'm not sure he'll be too pleased to hear about this. 5/10

Titus O'Neill, Percy Watson & AJ vs Derrick Bateman, JTG & Maxine:
Can I just say how facepalm worthy the opening segment was? The Muppets' comedy on Raw somehow worked and yet "fish lips" is the best they can come up with for this? It makes me miss the good old days when they could simply call Maxine a gold digger...wait they can still do that since gold digger isn't exactly non-PG is it? Anyway the divas didn't work for a lot of the match but that's fine since they had four lengthy matches across the last few months and their interaction was fine. It was good to include these two and get them back in the ring this week as they do have good chemistry. The rest of the match was pretty fun as well and who knew Titus O'Neill would get so good in the ring? I sense Maxine teaming up with Tamina to take on the Chick Busters next week. 6/10

Impact - Gail Kim & Madison Rayne vs Tara & Brooke Tessmacher* (Knockouts Tag Team Championships):
Sigh, TNA really do love to overbook things don't they. It seems like they were so desperate to get Gail back that they just hand her the belts after three weeks. Did they forget she's also challenging for the Knockouts title? I'm fine with a total domination storyline as long as it gets drawn out and developed a bit more. Tara and Brooke were doing pretty well as Tag champs but they weren't really given much chances to become memorable champions. It's just like WWE giving the belt to Nattie, then Eve and then Brie without any real meaning. True a heel champ is likely to be more fun but it's like they just uproot all their current talent just for the sake of putting the belt on Gail without her even working for it. The match was fine and I would like to see a lengthy Gail/Brooke match in the future. Thankfully the faces got in plenty of offence. The ending was good enough even with my opinions about the booking. 6/10

Smackdown - Natalya vs Alicia Fox:
Holy crap WWE were really pulling for these two to have to fight upstream in this match weren't they. They give the segment three minutes in total, keep both entrances and show an unneeded replay of what happened on Monday. Give the girls a bit of a chance please. Anyway the opening moments did seem like they were rushing through whatever time they had left. The match was actually still alright and much better than the awkward one they had last week on Raw. Still too short of course but I think without both entrances and the stupid replay it would have been better. I liked Alicia's new finisher and it's good she wins a match without a roll-up so technically that's the first time she's beaten Nattie clean. 5/10

Tuesday, 1 November 2011

Vengeance - Beth Phoenix* vs Eve Torres (Divas' Championship):
Holy hell this was brilliant. I called it ages ago that these two would have a brilliant match and well the results speak for themselves. As much as I loved Beth/Kelly I feel that adding Eve into this storyline has really added an extra spice. Although Kelly has more experience than Eve and is more popular with the fans, Eve is definitely a lot more exciting in the ring. I feel WWE have never really given her a chance to let her show us the full extent of what she can do in the ring and here is a taste of it. Eve is definitely a diva who gets it. She's mastered the basics now and has a unique moveset that isn't style over substance like some of her earlier stuff. Putting her in the ring with someone as accomplished as Beth gave us a treat to watch. This is hands down the best match of Eve's career and yet another solid PPV match delivered by the Glamazon. She's now four in a row for solid matches on PPV and her title reign is off to a good start. I feel that the finish was perfect and it was just the win Beth was needing to establish herself as a strong champion. Now Eve is clearly getting another title match and I say bring it on. 7.5/10

Raw - Natalya vs Alicia Fox:
Yikes, did they have to give Alicia Maria's old theme music? How about something original and different for a change? Anyway I didn't like this. It looked pretty stiff and very sloppy, like these two were working against each other instead of with each other if that makes any sense. These two have had good matches before so I'm sensing their time got cut thanks to the countless replays of Triple H's spotlight stealing moment. There wasn't much to see and I wasn't a big fan of the ending. But thank Bob Alicia finally won a match. Eve just won another title match so I'm not sure where this leaves Alicia but I'm gonna go on what I suspected last Monday when this happened. I proposed a 5 on 5 Survivor Series match and I think this could have been the start of it. With Eve and Kelly watching from backstage and Alicia standing with them last night it seems to be heading that way. Also the Bellas were shown helping Beth and Nattie attackng Eve and Kelly in the backstage segment at Vengeance so there's their other teammates. Throw in Tamina and the Chick Busters and I say we have ourselves a match. 3/10

NXT - Kaitlyn vs Tamina:
These two had some patchy interactions during their "feud" back in the Summer but this was a much better show. Kaitlyn has been wrestling for just over a year and she has improved so much. Those few months she spent down in FCW after NXT really helped her out. I liked the backstage segment before this and all three women sounded so natural and spoke easily. Kaitlyn and AJ have good comic timing and Tamina managed to be menacing without overdoing it. The match was good enough but of course way too short. I mean it was only 30 seconds longer than the Raw match. I would have liked to see Kaitlyn get more of a comeback but what we saw from both girls was nice enough. Tamina is slowly improving as well and she has good ring presence. I'm also happy that creative has been mixing things up on NXT and getting several divas involved. Dare I say it but WWE has made sure all the divas are being used this week. 5.5/10

Impact - Gail Kim vs Tara:
On the other end of the spectrum, I was not impressed. Gail's promo was fantastic. She never really got to cut promos as a heel but she sounded pretty good and was getting great heat for it. The match on the other hand wasn't much to write home about. Yeah Gail's moves looked good but it was way too one-sided. Tara got maybe two moves in and the rest was just Gail dominating. Maybe she should have been doing this with someone like Brooke if she wanted to be shown as a big dominator. It just makes Tara look weak considering how accomplished she is. And the fact that Gail was wrestling in street clothes took away from the match and made it look a bit hokey. 4/10 for the match; 7/10 for the promo

Superstars - Bella Twins vs Eve & Kelly Kelly:
These two have had various matches this year and this was on par with their excellent one the night after SummerSlam. It was much of the same typical stuff from them - the Bellas isolating one team member and working over a body part. They do have great chemistry as a tag team, both as heels and faces although they could use more growth in their moves. If they could develop some more hard-hitting moves for their arsenals then their matches would be a lot more enjoyable. As is often the case with this combination of matches, I enjoyed Eve's part in the ring a lot more than Kelly's. Kelly plays a much better face in peril while Eve is a lot better at getting the hot tag sequence. I know we have to keep Eve and Kelly looking strong after they both lost to Beth recently but just once I'd like to see the Bellas get the win. 7/10

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